Are you practicin’ relaxin’?
Modern life pushes to do more, think less, and react to whatever seems most urgent. Sure, we get a lot done, but on the whole, we’re not very happy while we very stressed out! Stress is killing us, physically, emotionally and spiritually. The number of American workers who consider stress to be a major problem in their lives has more than doubled during the past ten years. 62% percent of American workers say their workload has increased over the last six months; 53% say work leaves them “overtired and overwhelmed. Moreover, the...
read moreGet a lot done but not feeling very accomplished?
Another year over and what have you done? Seems like a good time to reflect and think about our accomplishments from 2010. Trouble is, when asking my audience about this very thing, most will say how busy and overworked they feel, but not necessarily very accomplished! Accomplishment: something successfully done, completed, fulfillment I must admit, when I first thought about what I have accomplished I felt a little depressed. I know I got lots of stuff done so why was I coming up empty? Upon reflection, I’ve found a few ways in which I...
read moreThere’s a New Wolf in Town
The sheer speed, volume, and ready access to information, anywhere and anytime presents us with unique unprecedented challenges when it comes to what we choose to ‘feed our psyche. This, it seems, is the ‘new wolf in town’. Aggressive, cunning, and stealthy, this wolf has an insatiable need for constant stimulation, wreaking havoc on our nervous systems and peace of mind. This wolf wants us do more, keep busy 24/7 and 365; checking and rechecking email, texting, buying the latest whatever, joining social networks (simply to have...
read moreEarly Morning Humility
Just recently I had an early morning flight from San Diego to the east coast. For some reason I figured that because my flight was at 6am, the security line would be short and I breeze right through. I don’t know why I assumed this but I did and was wrong! The line was long and I immediately felt anxious and began to worry that I would not make my flight. I tend to stress about flying anyway; whom will I sit next to? Will my flight be on time? And so on. So my anxiety and stress level is building. I am looking for a way to get close to the...
read moreIn A Rut? Make A Decision
In my keynotes and workshops I’m often asked about the process I went through in order to be more productive and with a lot less stress. In a way it wasn’t really that hard. One day about five years ago I got sick and tired of trying to deal with my email. I really needed to learn a better way to work! I really like what I do but the very process, along with the shear volume and complexity of what I had to deal with was simply overwhelming! I made the decision to learn a better way to work. I faced the reality that what I was...
read moreTransform Yourself Through Journaling
I had been thinking about keeping a journal for a very long time, years in fact. ‘One day’, I thought, ‘I really will.’ I think I somehow knew the transformative power that expressing myself through writing might have. In fact the few times I tried it I felt really good afterward. Putting pen to paper, or clicking away on the keyboard usually left me feeling a bit clearer with some perspective I would not have had otherwise. Although I liked the feeling of have written a few good pages, I never felt like I could stick with it. I used...
read moreThe Machine Doesn’t Care
We are living in an extraordinary time, in the very infancy of the technological revolution. The breakthroughs and positive benefits of living in our ‘techno-world’ are wide ranging and touch every area of our lives, from communications and entertainment to science and medicine. 21st century technology is also changing our perspectives on what’s possible and our potential to make a difference at home, at work, in our communities, and the world. We also know from our own experience that computers and technological devices, all of which...
read more“…a hospital without soul is a body repair shop”
“A hospital with soul is a place of healing; a hospital without soul is a body repair shop.” I’m quoting here from Care of the Soul in Medicine by Thomas Moore. In my view, if you work in healthcare then you must read it, give a copy to your CEO (unless that’s you, in which case you should make it required reading for your entire staff). This is an engaging, accessible, and inspiring work in which Moore presents us with a new vision for medicine – a vision that takes us beyond medicine as a physical science, matrix of...
read moreGuarantee your Patient Payment
Traditionally, most healthcare offices bill insurance companies and balance bill patients for the difference in coverage (except where the provider is contracted to accept the insurance payment as payment in full). From there, the office simply sends the bill to the patient, the patient pays and we all live happily ever after…right? WRONG!!! A ‘long time ago and far away’ in a time when only one spouse needed to work to support the family, before credit cards and cable TV; when healthcare (insurance) was relatively inexpensive, your...
read moreWhat You Don’t Know May Save Your Life
As a professional speaker I work hard to make sure my presentations are lively, entertaining, and valuable. My goal is to ‘wow’ my audience. Twenty years experience, working with live audiences, has ‘taught’ me more than a few things about how to deliver powerful presentations. Over time, however, ‘wowing’ the audience, has become formulaic and fundamentally about getting the right reactions. I’ve gotten pretty good at it, so why should I mess with it now? In order to insulate myself from my fears and insecurities associated...
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